From Dream to Reality
by Atrilial
Summary: Some time after Nemesis, Dr. Serenity Gillard finds the head of a Soong-type android drifting in space. She discovers it is the head of Commander Data, who is trapped in the dream programming of his brain. While rebuilding him, a friendship and more develops between Serenity and Data. Data/OC
1. A Head Start

I may or may not go through and edit this again.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or Commander Data. He is his own man! :)

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"Helmsman Frey to Doctor Gillard, I'm picking up something on our sensors. Some sort of energy reading. It's very faint."

"Frey, I know who you are. The crew isn't _that _big. You don't have to say Helmsman every time."

Dr. Serenity Gillard looked up from her research, rolling her eyes and brushing back a few stray strands of auburn hair. Her elaborate twisting hairstyle seem juxtaposition, far too adult to match her petite, almost ridiculously childlike frame as she prodded at test tubes far too impatiently for a woman in her thirties. For a woman who rarely took more than fifteen minutes to get ready in the morning, her fastidious hair had always been a source of much amusement and speculation among her team.

"Yes ma'am," came the stiff reply. Frey was one of the newer members of her team and still getting used to the casual way Serenity ran her ship.

Biting her lip, she considered the implications of the sensor readings. She'd instructed her crew to navigate them slowly through the Yimmeran Asteroid Belt while she and her small team of assistants investigated a selection of anomalous compounds dotted throughout this vast field of space debris. The bridge crew, i.e. Frey, had been directed to scan for any further anomalies while they traversed this region. Perhaps this energy source would answer some questions.

"Show on screen," she instructed, turning to face the view screen that nearly took up an entire wall of the lab. It sprang to life, revealing the vast array of astronomical formations outside. At first she could discern nothing out-of-the-ordinary, but as she gazed at the image, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Increase size," she ordered eagerly, heart suddenly racing at the possibilities. She heard a small gasp from one of her assistants, and turned to see what the tall blonde Bajoran had discovered. "What is it Sherri?"

"Doctor, if I'm not very much mistaken, I believe these readings are positronic."

A grin slowly spread across Serenity's face as she turned back to study the image once more. The angle was odd, so she couldn't be certain, but if she was right...

"Gillard to Daniels."

"Daniels here. What can I do for you, Doctor?"

"The bridge crew found something of interest. Beam it directly to my lab, if you would."

"On it."

Moments later, the whirring of a transporter beam filled the lab. She watched with barely contained enthusiasm as the object materialized within the protective force field. She approached the platform as the item thereon was scanned for harmful substances. Scan completed, the forcefield dropped, and she reached out to examine their findings.

What little skin remained was mostly burned, melted, or peeled off and only a smattering of badly singed hair remained. Closed, mostly intact eyelids hid the orbs beneath. Under all this, lay a network of electronics so complex all the greatest minds of the scientific community had itched for just an opportunity to observe them, much less study them.

"Doctor, is that...?" Sherri whispered in awe, not even daring to voice her suspicions.

"Yes, I believe it is. I'll have to study more in depth, but I think it is safe to say, this is most likely the head of a Soong-type android."

Collective gasps rang through the room.

"How? How is it here?" Devor, her Bolian stellar physics expert asked, leaning forward to examine it closer.

"Who knows. So very little is known about Noonian Soong's work. No one is even sure how many androids he attempted before finally succeeding with Commander Data."

The room fell introspective at Serenity's words. The news of the demise of Starfleet's one and only android had spread through the scientific community like wildfire, even reaching their remote little ship. There were rumors that another Soong-type android had been discovered, but Serenity had found no official records to that effect. And now, here she stood, looking into the face of one. The possibilities were overwhelming.

"Is it functioning?" Sherri asked, bringing Serenity's focus back to the present. "After all, the sensors picked it up because of an energy reading."

"Right, let's take a look. Stand back! I'm going to try some science!" Serenity set the head back on the platform with a flourish and began examining it, as her team simultaneously rolled their eyes, quite familiar with her dramatics. The head seemed dormant, and at first she could find nothing to account for the sensor readings. After nearly an hour of searching, Serenity called Daniels down to the lab. Maybe a new pair of eyes would see what they'd overlooked.

Barty Daniels was a monster of a man, with fiery red hair to match. As he stepped into the lab, it seemed to shrink to half its size. Despite the room feeling suddenly claustrophobic, Serenity watched him intently as he study the positronic brain. Doubling as their engineer and transport operator, Daniels had a way with machines that Serenity envied. Sure enough, a mere quarter of an hour later, he had their answer.

"Doctor, look at this."

Daniels stepped aside so she could gaze at the console he'd been working at. Serenity rubbed her eyes as she tried to make sense of the readouts.

"What am I seeing here?" She asked, wearily. She'd already been working for sixteen hours when they'd discovered the head, and the continuous work was beginning to strain her concentration. Even her boisterous nature could only drive her forward for so long. Daniels pointed at the consol as he explained.

"While most of the positronic brain appears to be shut down, there is a collection of circuits, here, that are functioning. What their particular function is, I can only speculate, but it would appear that at least on some level this is a working brain. What that level is, we'll have to study further to learn."

Serenity nodded as comprehension dawned and new life, a second wind, surged through her. The brain worked! Possibly incomplete, but it worked! Was there a chance here for her and her team to bring the next Soong-type android into existence? All thought of asteroid belt anomalies forgotten, she turned to her team virtually buzzing with excitement.

"Would it be possible to hook the brain up to the holodeck, to try to get an inside look at what's going on in there?" Serenity posed eagerly. "Who knows what knowledge may lie dormant there."

Sherri grinned broadly as her mind worked overtime considering their options.

"Daniels and I should be able to do that no problem, though I can't guarantee you'll find anything."

Serenity nodded.

"It's a place to start." Finally noticing the yawns and drooping eyes of her team, she added, "But first, rest. I'd hate for us to miss something important due to failing concentration. First thing tomorrow, we'll get that set up and see what we can find."

Serenity released a long, tired sigh as the door to her quarters slid shut behind her. A loud yowl stopped her moments from tripping over a ball of fluff winding imperatively between her legs. Scowling down at the beast, she groaned.

"One of these days, Fat Cat, you are going to send me sprawling to my death. Wouldn't that be a way to go: death by cat."

The grey striped feline released another plaintive yowl in response.

"Alright, alright. I'll feed you. Don't get your tail in a twist."

Picking carefully through a minefield of cat toys, carelessly discarded clothing, and a shredded paper or three, she made it safely to the replicator.

"Feline supplement 4." The small dish appeared and she set it down for the now desperately meowing furball. "Tea, Irish Breakfast with cream and sugar, hot."

Taking her cup of tea in hand, she swept a spread of dissertations and scientific journals off her armchair and sank into it gratefully. None of her team could understand how she drank such a caffeine-rich beverage before bed and still managed to get to sleep, but she'd never found it a problem. No, if anything doomed her sleep, it was her own mind, constantly trying to solve that next equation or turning over and over that next piece of material wondering what she'd missed.

As she sipped her tea, she thought tonight might prove to be just such a night. This discovery had opened up a whole new realm for them. They were stepping into territory that all the greatest scientific minds had been contesting over for decades.

Her tea finished, she cleared her cup and the cat's empty food bowl away. If Alba knew she'd once again only had tea for dinner, she'd go into full-tilt scolding mode. As both ship's medic and Serenity's closest friend, Alba had taken it upon herself to ascertain the Serenity's enthusiasm for work did not result in the neglect of her health. She was only limitedly successful.

Serenity stumbled towards her larger-than-necessary bed. There were certain advantages to having one's own ship. Despite her earlier worries, the moment her head hit the pillow, she was out for the night.

Her natural internal clock woke her bright and early as it did every morning (even on the days when sleeping in really would have been a nice change), and it was only then she realized she hadn't even remembered to change the night before. Rolling out of bed, she groaned as the tangle of sheets around her legs nearly sent her plummeting face-first into her closet. As it was, she managed to catch herself in time, pulling all the sheets still wrapped around her off the bed with her. An indignant meow announced that Fat Cat was none too pleased with being displaced, but she ignored him, working her feet free and setting about her early morning routine.

A mere fifteen minutes later, she met Daniels and Sherri on the holodeck. This had been the single most expensive feature of her top-of-the-line private research craft, but she had insisted on the best. On long treks across space, it had certainly proved worthy of the investment, and she hoped it would now prove its usefulness in a new way.

"There we go. That should do it," Daniels announced a short while later, looking very pleased with himself.

"Excellent," Serenity nodded. "Thanks for your help, Daniels. Feel free to return to engineering to finish the maintance I interrupted yesterday."

"Gee, thanks for the privilege," he chuckled. "Good luck."

As he left, Serenity turned to Sherri. "While I'm working on this, I'd like you to return to the lab and go over the information we collected yesterday. See if you can glean anything from it. And ask Devor to see if he can find out how it got here, where it originated, anything like that."

"On it," Sherri spun on her heel and headed for the lab. As she left, she shouted over her shoulder, "let me know if anything interesting happens. Don't keep all the fun to yourself, Doctor."

Serenity chuckled as the door slid closed, then turned to consider the head. There was a good chance that whatever activity was in the brain would not be translatable to holodeck information. She could flip the switch and find nothing. Then there would be nothing for it but to return to the lab and do it the old fashioned way: slowly and painstakingly. Or...

She flipped the switch on cable that connected the brain to the holodeck. For a brief moment, nothing happened and disappointment began to creep in, but it didn't have time to take hold. Suddenly, everything sprung to life.

She was in the corridor of a ship, Federation if she had to guess. The realism of this scene astounded her. What could it mean? At first, it was completely still with no signs of life, but after a moment, she heard the sound of wings fluttering. Turning, she just barely glimpsed a large, black bird as it swooped over her head. Spinning back around, she gasped in shock at the sight that met her.

It was him. She was sure of it. She'd spent so many hours pouring over his files, every scrap of information she could dig up on him, that she was certain it could be no one else. Commander Data stood inquiringly before her, looking relaxed and surprisingly alive. _You're on the holodeck_, she reminded herself, but even knowing that, it was hard to remember this wasn't real.

"Hello," he greeted pleasantly, and she nearly jumped out of her skin in alarm. He was aware of her? Was this simply a projection put together by the holodeck based on a compilation of memories, or had she somehow tapped into a consciousness?

Finding her voice, she squeaked out, "Hello!" before coughing and trying again. "Hello, I'm Doctor Serenity Gillard. And you are?"

He looked contemplative as he gazed at her, but he didn't make her wait long for a reply. "I am Commander Data of the Starship Enterprise." He seemed to consider a moment (which was fine by her as her mind reeled at the confirmation of her suspicions) before continuing. "Are you an acquaintance of my father, Doctor Noonian Soong?"

"No, I never had the pleasure of meeting your father, though I've avidly studied his works."

His brow pulled down in a frown as he processed this.

"Then I suppose this is not the afterlife, either."

She shook her head in confirmation, confused.

"No, this isn't the afterlife. At least I certainly hope the afterlife is nothing like this," she mused, gazing around at the sterile, bland starship interior. What a rotten afterlife this would be. Her brows furrowed as she registered what he'd asked. "Wait, you believe in an afterlife?"

He shrugged, "I had not ruled out the possibility." His expression grew slightly more wary as he observed her closer, "If you did not know my father, and I am not dead, may I ask, why are you here? How did you get here?"

Deciding she wanted some answers as well, she asked a question of her own instead.

"Where is here?"

He looked a little put off by her deflection, but answered her anyway as he contemplated their surroundings.

"This would appear to be a deck of the Enterprise." He paused, then continued. "And since it would seem this is not the afterlife, I believe I am dreaming." He cocked his head as he studied her, and she shifted uncomfortably under his piercing gaze. It was like he could see right through her. Perhaps he could. "I do not recall ever seeing you before, so why are you in my dream?" he reiterated, more firmly.

She suspected he was thinking out loud, since he seemed to be searching himself for the answer to this question. But how was this even possible? She was not aware he could dream. Though know that she thought about it...hadn't a Dr. Bashir written about something to this effect? It had been years since she'd skimmed the article. Could that really be what this was? And if so, then some part of Data was still functional, trapped inside his own mind. If she could repair the positronic brain, rebuild his body, perhaps she could bring him back.

The thought shook her to the core.

What an opportunity! What a privilege! What a challenge...

Pulling herself together, she decided to answer his questions after all. If he could be convinced to believe her, perhaps he could even assist her.

"We linked your positronic brain to the holodeck and were able to tap into your..." what? Consciousness? Programming? He seemed to understand, so she left it at that.

"You have tapped into my dreams?"

The way he said it made her squirm. Any normal person would see this as a huge invasion of privacy. Perhaps, she should have kept her mouth shut after all. But he was a machine. Could he even feel like his privacy was invaded?

"That is conceivable," he nodded. "It would not be the first time such a procedure has been used." He did not seem offended at least. "However, it is also possible that this is simply another dream, and my own mind has constructed this scenario. There is no way for me to know unless I awaken."

Steeling herself, she prepared to deliver the bad news. How much should she tell him? If a human were told their body had been torn apart and they existed only in the dream portion of their brain, it would doubtless drive them mad. But he was an android. She had no way of predicting how he would take it.

"I'm afraid that's not possible at the moment. It appears that your body was...destroyed," she said hesitantly. His expression remained simply curious, so she continued. "We found your...erm...head floating in an asteroid belt. Your brain appears to be severally damaged. It will be some time before I'm able to repair it. It is a wonder any of you survived at all."

His eyes seemed to move rapidly back and forth as he processed this. His expression serious, he asked, "Do you have experience working with cybernetics, specifically, positronic brains?"

She gnawed on her lip as she decided how to answer him. "Well, I got my doctorate in cybernetics and have been studying it intensively for many years. However information on positronics is hard to come by. I've study what I could find, but I'm certainly not the expert Dr. Soong was. I have a full team at my disposal, though, some of whom are very talented with mechanics and computers. And all are quick learners. With the appropriate resources, I certainly think getting you functional again is feasible. The greatest challenge will be finding those resources. The amount of Dr. Soong's research that made it into the scientific community is heartbreakingly minimal."

Data nodded in agreement.

"As it seems I have little choice but to rely on you for my recovery - assuming this _is_more than a simple dream - then perhaps I can assist you in that respect. I have a great deal of information stored in my memory, and what you cannot find there, I can direct you to where it can be found. All I ask is that you make no changes to me without my consent. Though, as it appears I am at your mercy, I have no way of preventing you from doing so."

She rushed to assuage his concerns. "It's your body. I won't do anything you find unwelcome, and I'll make sure my team follows my lead. I just hope we are successful for your sake."

"As do I."

With his guidance, she spent the next several hours attempting to access his memory bank, which, as it turned out, was far more complicated than she'd anticipated. Many of the circuits connecting to the memory bank had been damaged, so finding a way to access the information without corrupting the memories was a significant hurdle. It seemed they'd finally stumble upon a viable solution, when Serenity's stomach growled loudly in protest.

Data laughed softly, surprising her. It was a pleasant sound, astonishingly...human. It transformed his face, made him much more personable. A jarring change, he was not quite the stoic android she'd expected.

"Unlike me, Dr. Gillard, you require regular consumption of food to focus clearly," Data informed her pointedly, and for a moment she wondered if he was being dryly humorous. His face, however, seemed as guileless as ever. "I would suggest we reconvene after you have eaten and sufficiently rested. If what you say is true, I will still be here in the morning."

She was about to protest, but as she opened her mouth, she released a great yawn instead, rendering any argument mute. Smiling sheepishly at him, she nodded. "Very well, I suppose you're right."

She looked around the dreamscape once more, this corridor of a place he'd occupied for many years. Her eyes slowly fell back on him. He stood relaxed, calm, and broad-shouldered in his uniform, seemingly unphased by the turn his life had taken. Was he as impervious to fear of death as it seemed? Regardless, she felt a tugging on her heart at the thought of leaving him here on his own, trapped in his dreams all night, with no option to awaken should they overwhelm him. It was a silly feeling. He was an android; she didn't even know if he could be disturbed by dreams. He looked quite capable and unconcerned. He certainly didn't need her worrying over him. Taking a deep breath, she offered him a parting smile.

"Sweet dreams, Commander."

She turned to go, but was stopped by his soft voice.

"Data. I would appreciate it if you would call me Data. As we will be spending a great deal of time together, I hope we will be friends, if that is agreeable to you."

Her eyes widened as she looked at him. Friends? She'd been so focused on him as a project, her next step into scientific greatness, that she had not considered this. It wasn't an unpleasant idea. He looked alarmingly vulnerable as he awaited her response, and she wondered if perhaps more was going on in those electrical synapses of his than she'd considered.

"I would like that too," she reassured him with a smile, before adding humorously, "Sweet dreams, Data."

"Goodnight, Dr. Gillard."

As she prepared to flip off the holodeck connection, she corrected him over her shoulder.

"Serenity."

Something about the tone of his voice made her feel warm all the way down to her toes as he said, "Goodnight...Serenity."

She flipped the switch before he could catch the unexplained blush on her cheeks. The holodeck returned to the blank black grid, empty but for the head still sitting on a platform linked to the console. Coughing into the stillness and wondering why she suddenly felt self-conscious, she gave the head a quick examination, ascertaining that he was still dreaming away, undisturbed.

Impulsively, she leaned over and pressed her lips to an exposed plate on his forehead.

"I'll get you out of there. I promise."

"Now that's not creepy or anything," a dry voice observed from the exit. Alba leaned casually against the arch with a raised eyebrow and an amused expression. Serenity flushed in embarrassment, feeling foolish for her strange act of sentimentality.

"Just thought I'd take your advice," she joked, trying to deflect attention from her discomfort.

"Oh yeah? And what advice is that?" Alba eyed her disbelievingly.

"Well, you're always telling me I need to find love. Or at least a lover. Something about being sexually repressed wasn't it?" Now Serenity raised an eyebrow of her own as she walked through the exit. "Well, I figured who better than a robot. I mean I spend all my time with them anyway. Should be easy to find something to talk about, right?"

"You're hopeless," Alba groaned, to which Serenity replied with a snarky grin. "I'm going back to the medbay. Eat some real dinner tonight, won't ya?"

"Yeah, yeah," Serenity waved her off as they parted ways.

Before making her way to her quarters, she stopped by the lab to see what Sherri and Devor accomplished.

"So, I guess it worked, since we haven't seen hide nor hair of you all day," Sherri observed, turning from her console with an intensely curious gleam in her eyes. A surprising surge of protectiveness filled Serenity. She wasn't ready to share her time with Data just yet. Eventually she would need to, but not yet. For just awhile, she'd let it be her secret.

Shrugging off-handedly, she waved dismissively. "I managed to tap into some information. I think I might have a feasible means of accessing the memory banks without damaging them. That will be my project tomorrow. What about you two? Learn anything useful?"

Devor answered first. "After hours of scanning and extrapolating I have no clearer idea of where it came from than when I started. There is simply too little information. I was able to deduce, by the lack of build-up accumulated, that it hasn't been here in the belt for more than a couple years. But where it was before then, I can only guess."

Serenity nodded, unsurprised. After learning who the head belonged to, she had a pretty good guess where it came from. She turned her eyes to Sherri instead.

"I was mostly just able to confirm what we already suspected. It is a fairly complete, if badly damaged, positronic brain of a Soong-type android. It will take a great deal of work, but with some patience and accurate resources, I believe there is a good chance of us restoring it. Whether this was a part of a complete, fully-functional android we aren't exactly certain, but it does seem to have that potential."

All things Serenity also knew. Brows furrowing in thought, she considered their next steps.

"I may have some idea where to get the resources we need. For now, let's set a course for Omicron Theta. It will take some time to get there, but hopefully by the time we do, we'll have a better idea what we have to work with."

"Excuse me, Doctor, but we don't know specifically where on Omicron Theta Dr. Soong's lab was. Without any hint as to its location, we could spend days looking for it to no avail," Sherri interjected.

"If I can tap into these memory banks, I suspect I'll be able to find the location of Dr. Soong's lab. If not, we'll consider our options from there. Starfleet might have records of its whereabouts, so with a little careful hacking, we might discover it that way." At the apprehensive looks on her teammates' faces she added, "As a last resort, of course."

Giving their new heading to the helmsman, she called it a night and made for her quarters. Usually she tried to make a point of eating in the general mess as much as possible to socialize and interact with her team whenever she had the chance. Today she felt little inclination to join the others, too full of thoughts and introspections.

Besides, she was too tired to fight off Faren's advances. Their ship's resident counselor/cultural expert/people-person had been desperately trying to garner her affections for years now, and it was exhausting. For the expert listeners that his people supposedly were, he sure didn't know how to take "No".

Fat Cat was as hazardous and plaintive as always as she stepped into her rooms. He fixed her with a berating scowl before trotting over, belly swinging beneath him, to sit poignantly under the replicator. Obediently, she ordered his dinner, offering it to him before deciding on her own evening meal, taking Alba's advice for once.

Inhaling her beef stew and bread, far hungrier than she'd realized, she considered her plans for the next day with anticipation. She'd only just met the android, and already she was eager to learn all she could about him and from him. He was a wealth of knowledge and insight, and he must have such a unique perspective on human behavior. The things she could learn from him!

Anxious for the new day, she prepared for bed, climbed beneath the covers, and forced herself to relax. There would be ample time for speculation later. For now, she needed sleep, lest the perpetually sleeping android send her back to bed when she rejoined him in the morning.

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Review Please! I live for reviews!


	2. Making Progress

I edited/rewrote a good portion of chapter one, so I'd recommend that those who read it earlier go back a reread it.

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Serenity examined the brain activity the next morning, relieved to find everything as it was. Taking a fortifying breath, she flipped the switched and prepared to meet the android once more.

She looked around with some surprise to find she wasn't where she had been last time. This time she stood in a large room with tall windows looking out to the stars. Judging by the furniture, she'd guess this was a bar. There were several other people in the room, though they all seemed oblivious to her presence at the moment.

She relaxed slightly when her eyes fell on Data, standing by one of the windows, mirroring her surprise.

"You have returned." He observed out loud, almost like a question. He wore the same uniform as yesterday, she noted.

"I said I would. You didn't believe me?"

His head tilted in contemplation.

"I have found that dreams are rarely predictable." Then he offered a slight almost-smile that seemed to soften his features. "I had hoped you would return."

"Happy to make your dreams come true," she laughed. Her eyes widened as he chuckled as well. Even after yesterday it took her by surprise with how natural it seemed to come to him.

"May I assume you are not Starfleet?" he interrupted her thoughts. "Given your lack of uniform and the comments you have made about this being your personal ship, that seems a logical deduction."

She snorted derisively in reply. "Definitely not Starfleet."

Data's brows drew down in a frown as he watched her walk over to him. "Why such animosity towards Starfleet?"

"Oh, it's not just Starfleet," she explained, waving her hand in the air flippantly as she gazed out at the starry expanse. "I have an issue with the Federation in general. And they with me."

His frown deepened. "Explain."

"Well, I am a very vocal and active member of a new political movement, speaking out against the Prime Directive."

"But the Prime Directive is the foundation of the Federation and Starfleet."

"Exactly. So they are none too thrilled with us stirring things up. Not that they'll actually really _do_anything about it."

"I do not understand. The Prime Directive is there to protect the Federation as well as the other peoples we discover."

"That's a naive outlook, no offense." He looked a little offended all the same. She tried to enlighten him. "Sure, there are times when the Prime Directive does what it's suppose to, when it helps and protects and keeps us from manipulating people. But it is too rigid, too inflexible. It does not allow for variables.

"For example, if a star is about to explode and destroy an entire populated planet, the Prime Directive says to leave them alone and watch them die. To me, that is morally repugnant. It's like seeing someone dying in the street and knowing you can save them but choosing not to.

"Sometimes inaction is just as evil as committing a crime itself," she ranted, her arms moving animatedly as she talked. "People who stand passively by while a murder is being committed are later frequently accused of being accomplices, yet we do not apply that same morality on a universal scale. It's wrong, and it needs to change."

Realizing she'd been preaching, she coughed, rubbing the back of her neck, and apologized. "Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now." Looking over at him, she was surprised to discover him still listening intently. "You know, when I go off like that, most people just tell me to shut up."

He nodded sagely at this, which amused her. "Yes, I have experience with that as well. I have been told on frequent occasions that I...babble."

"You too, huh?" He nodded, and she snorted unattractively. "A pair of babbling brooks are we. Ah well, I've sidetracked us long enough. Let's implement that plan we came up with yesterday."

Over the next several days she and her team managed to uncover a surprising amount of information on building a positronic brain and an android in general. Serenity found herself intensely curious as to why Data would have all this information, but then, since he was an android, perhaps that was a silly question to ask. Doubtless he knew a great deal about how his own brain and body operated.

Still, the level of detail he had, as though he had experience building one himself, was astounding: trial and error records, notes that seemed to come for personal failed attempts. Could it be possible he had built another? There were those rumors of another android existing. Were they true? Had he built another of his kind?

Serenity scrubbed her hand over her face in frustration. All this speculation was fruitless. She needed to focus on actual physical progress. She and her team had done a great deal of talking and planning, but had made very little real progress so far. Tomorrow they would reach Omicron Theta, and then the real work could begin.

She'd been greatly relieved when Data had shown her how to find the entrance to Dr. Soong's hidden lab. Her hands ached to touch the treasures she'd find there: decades of lost research, schematics, molds, plans, who knew what else. With that sort of material at her fingertips, they'd be able to make huge leaps forward in their rebuilding in no time.

Serenity walked into the holodeck, wondering where Data's dreams would set them this time. Each time she'd been here it had been something new. Once she'd even found herself at 22 Baker Street, which had led to an amusing conversation.

"Where on Earth is this? This doesn't look like any starship I've ever seen," Serenity had observed, in awe of the old-fashioned, clutter-filled room in which they stood. "And for once you aren't in your Starfleet uniform," she laughed wryly at the android, garbed in a posh looking robe and slacks with a pipe clutched in one hand. "I didn't know you smoked."

"It is part of the costume. It adds to the overall ambiance and character," Data explained patiently, almost to the point of sounding condescending. Serenity rolled her eyes. Who knew an android could put on airs?

"Uh-huh, and who are you suppose to be?"

He seemed affronted that she even had to ask. "Why, Sherlock Holmes of course. It's elementary, my dear Doctor."

That derailed her. "You read Sherlock Holmes?" she asked incredulously.

"I have read every one of Sir Conan Doyle's stories, including all of those about Sherlock Holmes. I have always been fascinated with the logical and insightful manner with which he solved the mysteries before him. I have frequently attempted to emulated him in my own mystery-solving endeavors."

She laughed. "Why? Surely with your positronic brain, you could out think Sherlock any day. I mean, don't get me wrong, he's one of my favorite characters. But still, I would hardly think he can compete with an android."

"I have always endeavoured to be more human, and I have found that Mr. Holmes had a particularly unique way of observing the world that often made him aware of things no one else was. While my brain can process information faster than Mr. Holmes, I find I often overlook things, particularly when dealing with people, that could greatly benefit me in understanding them."

It had been an insightful conversation, to say the least. His endeavour to become more human was fascinating. She'd read about it in articles from those who'd spoken to him, but to hear about it, see it, first hand, was something else.

Focusing back on the present, she examined the brain, as was her routine by now, and proceeded to flip the switch.

There was no needing to seek out Data this time. She found herself standing in that ship's bar - Ten Forward she believed he called it - right beside him. He seemed oblivious to her presence however, as he watched something across the room intently. She could not decipher the emotions she was seeing on his face, so she followed his gaze to see what had so captivated him. Across the room, serving customers a little stiffly, was a young woman. There was something...off about the way she moved; something not quite human.

Overcome with curiosity, she whispered quietly (for to raise her voice now seemed somehow inappropriate), "Who is she?"

For a long time he did not respond, and she was beginning to doubt he would when his equally quiet answer stunned her.

"My daughter."

She looked up at him sharply. Surely she'd misheard. But now she could read his face, and she knew there was no mistake. She'd seen that look before, on one of her friends at the university. Her stomach felt full of rocks as she asked gently, "What happened to her?"

Before he could answer, the dream changed, and she stood in a room with a tall circular machine in the middle. Surrounded by it, stood the girl, looking up at her father. Yet Data still stood beside Serenity as well, and she suddenly got the distinct feeling she was watching a memory instead of a dream.

This was something very private. She had no business seeing this. Feeling intensely uncomfortable, she made to leave, despite the fact that Data seemed hardly aware of her presence. But just as she turned to go, something caught her attention. Looking back, she gazed at the past Data and the current Data, trying to understand what she was seeing. There was something viscerally different about the two.

"Lal, I am unable to correct the system failure," the past-Data informed the girl quietly.

"I know," Lal replied.

"We must say goodbye now." Serenity felt her throat closing up as she watched the scene play out before her eyes.

"I feel..."

"What do you feel, Lal?"

"I love you, Father," Data's daughter informed him. The past-Data seemed to struggle for an answer to this.

"I wish I could feel it with you," he finally settled on. And there. There was the difference between the two Datas. For the Data standing next to Lal could not reciprocate the girl's feelings. But as Serenity looked up into the face of the man standing next to her, she could see clearly that he did. Golden tears trailed down his cheeks as he mourned, so late, for the child he'd lost years before.

Something had changed in Data since that time. Emotions he had once been incapable of, he now seemed to feel quite strongly. She ached to comfort him, android though he may be. Whatever he was didn't matter; he was clearly hurting, and she searched desperately for something to help.

Mortified, Serenity realized she was about ready to weep right alongside him. This was so far out of her comfort zone she couldn't understand how she'd gotten here. She'd always been horrible about dealing with her own feelings, much less someone else's.

"I...I don't know if this will help," she whispered softly, past the lump in her throat, "but a friend of mine in college lost her baby too. She told me that even if their time together had been short, it had changed her life and she'd never regret it."

Even as she said it, she knew it fell flat - sad platitudes that never helped anyone. All the same, Data finally looked down at her and nodded gratefully.

"Thank you. It is true. She will always be a part of me. She showed me the world in ways I could have never seen it through my own eyes."

Fortifying herself, she reached out tentatively for his hand. He looked down at the contact in surprise, but did not pull away. Rather, he wrapped his hand around hers and held it fast. He seemed uncertain and suddenly self-conscious, something she never thought to see from an android, so she encouraged him gently.

"What was she like? Tell me about her."

His eyes shown with gratitude, and he proceeded to tell her all about his daughter's short but vibrant existence.

It wasn't until Serenity was leaving hours later, that she realized this must have been the source of all the information they'd found. They'd been digging up the research he'd done to make his child. She felt momentarily guilty for dredging it all up for him, but shook it off. They were doing all this for his sake in the first place.

The next day they arrived at Omicron Theta. The planet was still sadly desolate from the attack of the crystalline entity even all these decades later. Armed, just to be safe, Serenity, Sherri, Alba, and Daniels all beamed down to the surface. Thanks to the information Data had provided her, Serenity knew exactly where to go.

Climbing along the rocky crevice where Data had first been discovered, she felt around for the entrance. Several moments later she declared success with a loud "a-ha!" that drew her team towards her.

"It's just in here. Come on!" she shouted eagerly, making her way into the hidden, underground lair like a kid at Christmas.

"Have I ever mentioned how sporty I'm _not_," Alba called after Serenity, huffing a little. "My shapely hourglass figure is a gift." She ran a hand through her mess of dark, curly hair, sighing. "I think my lungs are going to explode."

"If you stop complaining you'll conserve more oxygen," Serenity tossed over her shoulder, not slowing down in the least.

"If I stop complaining you'll know I've lost the will to live," Alba shot back, full lips twisting into a smirk. "We're talking lying down in the street, walking into traffic- oh holy shit look at this place."

Serenity already was, brown eyes the size of saucers as she took in the lab that had been as much a dream to her as Santa's workshop was to small children. Here was where one of the greatest minds - arguable _the_greatest mind - in cybernetics had built his crowning achievement, his Mona Lisa, his Sistine Chapel. Here Doctor Noonien Soong had carefully and meticulously crafted the android she now knew as Commander Data. She briefly had a ridiculous urge to remove her shoes. This was like walking on holy ground.

"Enough hero worship, Doc," Alba cut into her thoughts, irreverently. "Didn't we come here for an actual purpose?"

Serenity sighed longsufferingly. "Oh very well, interrupt one of the most momentous moments of my life with your drab practicality." Which was rich coming from her, since it was usually the other way around.

Sherri shook her head. "I swear, the pair of you could talk for hours about nothing. I'm going to take a look around and see what I can find."

Serenity waved her off and turned to Daniels, who leaned casually against the door frame, almost completely filling it, as if waiting to be noticed.

"Alright, Daniels, let's see if we can find those molds. They should be around here somewhere."

"Yeah Daniels," the medic grinned widely. "_For science_."

Serenity shot her a look. "Yeah, what else would it be for?"

Alba's wide blue eyes danced wickedly and she gave her boss a knowing smirk. "Rampant fangirlism?"

Serenity chose to ignore this statement, turning instead to pull open drawers and cabinets, looking for anything useful. Finding a conspicuous button on the wall, her finger was drawn to it like a magnet. No matter how many times she'd regretted it, she'd never been good at overcoming the urge to press all buttons, sniff all mixtures, and put just about everything in her mouth. It really was a dangerous preoccupation.

This time, however, she was rewarded for her curiousity. The wall retracted, revealing a set of shelves displaying exactly what she'd been looking for. Her eyes ran quickly over the molds, and she was about to turn to Daniels and instruct him to carry them back, when her eyes caught on something and she did a double take. _Really, Dr. Soong? Adding a couple inches aren't we?_Men and their egos.

"Someone should tell this guy it's not the size of the boat, it's the motion of the ocean," Alba commented, peering over Serenity's shoulder, her eyebrows waggling dramatically. Serenity choked on a laugh, suddenly having a far too clear picture of what lay under the Commander's Starfleet uniform. Was it just her or did the room feel a little hot?

"Erm...right, let's um...get this back to the ship and get started. Daniels?"

He raised an eyebrow at her expression but for once, wisely kept his mouth shut. "On it, Boss."

Alba, on the other hand, had no brain-to-mouth filter. "You're totally thinking of android wang, aren't you?"

Serenity gagged, then quickly recovered. "Oh, you know me, the only good wang is a robot wang."

"Boss, you're taking the whole 'battery operated boyfriend' thing to a whole new level." The medic frowned mock-seriously, lips twitching.

"For the love of all that is holy, shut up!" Their Bajoran companion called from the other room. Daniels looked as though he agreed emphatically.

"Right, sorry, dialing it back for the young, virgin ears," Serenity snarked. Daniels shot her a look and she made a face back at him. Grumbling, he hefted the vast array of molds into his arms and transported back to the ship.

"Any luck, Sherri?" Serenity asked, turning the corner into the adjacent room.

"No, not really. It looks as though nearly anything of value was packed up and moved. Dr. Soong must have taken all his notes with him when he fled," Sherri sighed in frustration, tugging at her traditional earring absently.

"Blast. Well, alright then. Let's head back and take a look at what we've got."

What they got, as it turned out, wasn't nearly as much as Serenity had hoped. Even with all they'd recovered from Data's memories, they were sadly lacking big chunks of information that would be needed to return the android to all his former glory.

Feeling disappointed, Serenity made her way to the holodeck. This time she found herself in private quarters. On the walls were several paintings of all varieties and a stack of additional paintings leaned against a corner. There was a sparse scattering of cat toys on the floor, though no feline was anywhere to be seen. In one of the connecting rooms was a bed which looked distinctly firm and uncomfortable and was made up meticulously with crisp hospital corners.

The room on the other side housed a large wrap-around console/desk that was mostly bare but for a select few items of assumedly sentimental value, including a boxed array of impressive looking medals. On a shelf, Serenity was surprised to see an assortment of honest-to-goodness leather bound books. Skimming over the titles, she was intrigued to see complete collections of Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes, and numerous other tomes valued by literary high-brows. And leaning casually against the bookcase was a violin that appeared both well-used and well-cared for.

This room, she felt certain, belonged to a kindred spirit. What she wouldn't give to meet it's owner. Did this room belong to one of Data's friends on the Enterprise? The Captain perhaps. She'd heard stories of Picard, and this room seemed to fit the picture they had painted of him: educated, cultured, well-rounded.

Feeling a presence behind her, she turned to find Data at her side, watching her with a somewhat guarded expression. Remembering what had happened yesterday, she wondered if he now felt uncomfortable with how much of himself he had shared before. She certainly wouldn't blame him if he did. If she'd poured out so much of her heart to someone in a moment of vulnerability as he had, she wasn't sure she'd be able to look them in the eye the next day.

The silence seemed to drag on, hanging thick in the room, so Serenity finally broke with the first thing to come to mind.

"So, whose quarters are these?" It was only after she said it that she realized this might be another private memory he did not wish to share. To her relief, his expression seemed to relax a little.

"These are my quarters aboard the Enterprise." She started, surprised. She felt such a connection to the owner of the room; she was a bit ashamed that she hadn't even considered it was his. Oblivious to her chagrin, he continued, "Or were. I suppose they have been reassigned by now."

Why did the thought of that depress her? It seemed wrong that these quarters weren't etched permanently in time, which was a strange thing to think. Life moved on. She'd always made a point to not let herself get hung up on sentimentality. Too much in her life was in constant flux for that. And yet she felt this absurd attachment to rooms she'd never been in of a man she barely knew. She was drawn back to the present as Data spoke once more.

"I wanted to ask, how long have I been...gone?" he asked reluctantly. Shifting, Serenity gnawed on her lip a moment before answering.

"Almost two years, I think. I don't remember exactly, but it's been about that long since Starfleet announced your...demise." Her eyes darted to the side. "Who'd have guessed you'd really just been peacefully dreaming these last couple years away," she joked weakly. He seemed startled at how long it had been. She couldn't imagine learning you'd lost two years of your life was easy, even for an android.

"You went down to Omicron Theta today, did you not?" he asked, changing the subject and gesturing for her to join him on the sofa. She sat beside him, wondering idly what the pair of them looked like, sitting there. Old friends? Awkward acquaintances? It felt like in the few days since she'd met him that they'd shared a lifetime, and yet he was still little more than a stranger to her.

"Yeah. Thanks to your help, we had no trouble finding it."

He nodded, pleased. "And did you find everything you were looking for."

Serenity let out a huff and sunk back into the couch, twisting and tugging at an errant curl. "No such luck. We managed to find the molds, which is good. At least we can guarantee you'll look like you..." she trailed off, blushing for a moment as she remember just what he looked like. His head titled curiously, and she caught herself before he made her explain. "But that was about it. We could find none of Dr. Soong's research, none of his notes, experiments, nothing."

She sank further down in the cushions, petulantly, taking her lip between her teeth once more. Data's lip twitched, and his eyebrow quirked, and she had the distinct impression that he was laughing at her. She glared venomously at him, which did nothing to dissuade him. His expression smoothed as an idea came to him. He seemed to struggle to make a decision for a fraction of a moment, before opening his mouth.

"Perhaps I can remedy that. I believe I know where you can find all of Dr. Soong's notes."

Serenity sat, straightened and leaned forward eagerly, her eyes gleaming.

"Really?"

That smile tugged at his lips again. "Really."

* * *

R&R Please!


End file.
